Lewis Hamilton and Reebok today unveiled a ground-breaking alternate reality game (ARG). A world first, Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life is the only time a global sport star has featured as the central character in a game of this kind. The adventure has been developed by Reebok and will allow millions of fans around the world to experience another side to Lewis in this alternate reality. Within the game they will help him train and prepare to recover priceless artworks, sculptures and manuscripts from thieves.
The game centres on five core missions and will run until October. Anyone can take part by going to www.secretlewis.com and looking for clues. Players will work together to solve puzzles and complete tests online, on their mobiles and in the real world at live events across the globe. Reebok joined forces with the former creative director of the Lara Croft games to create this new alternate world for Lewis and his fans.
Describing his role in the development of the game, Lewis Hamilton said; "Creating Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life with Reebok has been pretty cool. I'm into gaming and particularly playing online with friends who aren't in the same place, but this is on another level entirely - it's a real adventure. I've worked closely with the team throughout the project and the detail of the game is just unbelievable.
"It's taken a year to develop and I hope we can get as many people as possible to take part. We want to make this experience as big as we can."
An ARG is a multi-media game that blends real-life adventure, interactive storytelling, video games and the creation of an online community. It allows players to actively take part in a constantly evolving story-line.
Developed over the past 12 months by Reebok and ARG specialists nDreams, Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life, is one of the most ambitious projects of its kind, building a multi-lingual community of players from every corner of the globe. Staged on a truly international scale the entire adventure will be played out in nine languages simultaneously, as the action follows Lewis's exploits around the world.
"At Reebok, we're committed to bringing the joy and fun back to sport. From the very beginning, Lewis has been on board with this goal and Secret Life is a great example of this," said Uli Becker, Global President of Reebok. "Secret Life is our way of inviting fans to see a different side to Lewis and get involved in his training in a fun and unique way. I hope fans have as much fun participating in the game, as we did in creating it."
The game will have a wide variety of elements. It will feature online heist simulator games, a network of fictional websites, mobile games, Twitter feeds and plenty of video footage of the star carrying out his adrenaline-fuelled heists to recover the stolen artefacts. Players will be able to attend live events in different cities involving the central characters and make their own creative contributions to the story as it unfolds.
To find out more about his double life, search online for ‘Secret Lewis' or go to www.secretlewis.com
